The present invention relates to conveyors which are used to transport material and discharge it under the influence of gravity, and more particularly to a directable spout for intercepting the flow of material from the conveyor discharge and directing it toward a desired location.
Material conveyors are well known and are used in a wide variety of applications, including for conveying grain from a combine to a truck or trailer or other transport vehicle for transporting the grain from the field where it is being harvested to a storage location.
In such an application, as the grain is discharged from the auger conveyor on the combine, it generally falls vertically under the influence of gravity from an end of the conveyor into the transport vehicle. It is therefore critical to be sure that the transport vehicle and combine are carefully aligned so that the receiving area in the transport vehicle will be accurately positioned below the end of the conveyor. Otherwise, material flowing from the conveyor might miss the transport vehicle and end up on the ground, thereby being wasted.
It is of course possible to move either the transport vehicle or combine to provide the precise alignment, however this can be somewhat difficult, particularly if visibility is somewhat restricted in the transport vehicle.
The conveying of the material from the combine to the transport vehicle is done by the combine operator who is provided with appropriate controls in a cab of the combine to initiate the conveying mechanism and to terminate its operation when the transport vehicle is filled or the combine container is empty.
It would be an advance in the art if there were provided a means by which the combine operator could selectively direct the output of the combine conveyor so that precise location between the combine and the transport vehicle is not required or at least not the degree of precision presently required.